Abu Dhabi’s MGX among top investors in new U.S. TikTok

Emirati investment fund MGX has emerged as a central player in the deal struck with China’s ByteDance on Thursday to create a U.S. TikTok, joining Oracle and private equity firm Silver Lake in the venture that has an estimated value of $14 billion.

The arrangement, signed off by both U.S. and Chinese authorities, will transfer control of TikTok’s U.S. operations into a new entity designed to address long-running national security concerns over data and algorithm access. 

ByteDance will retain a minority stake of just under 20%, while American and global investors hold the balance, with a majority-American board overseeing data protection, content moderation and cybersecurity. MGX, Larry Ellison’s Oracle and Silicon Valley-based Silver Lake, which has backing from Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, will each hold a 15% stake.

MGX, an AI-focused fund that is chaired by UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed and backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala, has been investing heavily in U.S. tech companies, including Elon Musk’s xAI.

The deal is intended to bring an end to years of political and legal battles, including threats of a nationwide ban that had loomed under U.S. law and led to a temporary shutdown of the app.TikTok said American users can continue to use the platform uninterrupted as the new company begins operations under the revamped ownership structure.

Saudi Arabia’s PIF leads sovereign spenders after EA acquisition

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund emerged in 2025 as the biggest spender among the world’s sovereign wealth funds, propelled by the blockbuster acquisition of U.S. video-game maker Electronic Arts.

The $55 billion deal by a PIF-led consortium – in which the Saudis will foot about $29 billion of the total – accounted for the bulk of the fund’s investment activity during the year and pushed it ahead of the world’s top state investors in Norway and China, according to data compiled by Global SWF. Silver Lake and Affinity Partners joined the PIF in the EA acquisition.

Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala ranked second in spending among the sovereign funds, investing roughly $32.7 billion across dozens of transactions, including its $9 billion acquisition of Canadian wealth manager CI Financial.

As a regional bloc, the Gulf sovereign wealth funds, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, ADQ, Investment Corp. of Dubai, Kuwait Investment Authority, and Qatar Investment Authority, invested $126 billion in 2025, accounting for 43% of global sovereign investment spending, according to the report.

Separately, Global SWF said that the UAE’s top three sovereign wealth funds – ADIA, ICD and Mubadala – will see their assets increase by over 40% over the next five years, jumping from just under $2 trillion to almost $2.8 trillion in 2030.

Saudi PIF, Silver Lake, Affinity in talks for $50 billion EA buyout

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, private equity firm Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners are part of a group that is attempting a $50 billion leveraged buyout of gaming titan Electronic Arts.

The group is in advanced talks for the deal, potentially the largest leveraged buyout in history, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The PIF, which already holds a 10% stake in EA, has been expanding gaming investments through its Savvy Games Group.

Silver Lake’s Gulf activity includes its investment of $800 million in the Abu Dhabi-owned tech company G42, which gave Managing Partner Egon Durban a seat on the board in 2021.

MGX joins Silver Lake in buyout of Intel’s Altera chip business

Abu Dhabi-owned MGX agreed to co-invest with private equity firm Silver Lake and a group of partners in acquiring 51% of Intel’s programmable chip business, Altera.

The deal, which was announced on Tuesday after being completed on Sept. 12, values Altera at about $8.75 billion. The investor group led by Silver Lake paid approximately $3.3 billion for its majority stake.

The size of MGX’s individual investment was not immediately disclosed. Under the agreement, Intel will retain a 49% ownership in Altera (not to be confused with the UAE climate investment fund, Altérra).

MGX, founded last year by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund and tech company G42, said the deal aligns with its strategy to invest in the world’s most promising AI developers.

“Altera provides a foundational platform for next-generation computing,” Omar Alismail, MGX Chief Investment Officer, Semiconductors and Infrastructure, said in a statement. “This is an opportunity to scale a company of such significance into a true global leader for the AI era.”

The deal is one of the first in the semiconductor sector for MGX, which has set a goal to build its assets under management to at least $100 billion.